Idaho school teachers draw anger for dressing up as Mexicans and Trump’s border wall for Halloween

‘Do i think that there was a malicious intent in this poor decision? No, I don’t. Was there a poor judgement involved? Absolutely’

Middleton School District staff dressed as ‘Mexicans’ for Halloween.Middleton School District/Facebook

An Idaho superintendent has issued a public apology to students and their parents after staff at a public elementary school dressed up as Mexicans and the border wall for Halloween.

The images began circulating on social media this week, and they depict more than a dozen adults dressed up in two groups at Middleton Heights Elementary School, a town of about 7,500 located 30 miles west of Boise. One group is dressed up as stereotypes of Mexicans, replete with maracas, ponchos, sombreros and fake mustaches. The other group is dressed as a wall plastered with the slogan “Make America Great Again.”

“I want to say we are better than this,” Superintendent Josh Middleton said in a Facebook video Friday. “We embrace all students. We have a responsibility to teach and reach all students period. Do i think that there was a malicious intent in this poor decision? No, I don’t. Was there a poor judgement involved? Absolutely. And we now have to own those decisions.”

The story quickly took off on Friday evening, drawing coverage in national news media outlets. Angry reactions flooded the school’s Facebook page. And social media responses were harsh.

“The fact that these elementary school teachers thought this would be OK demonstrates how much more cultural competence training is needed in education,” Kevin Nadal, a psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, wrote on Twitter.